Resilient wall tile



Nov. 11, 1958 P. w. MAKRAY 2,

RESILIENT WALL TILE Filed Oct. 51, 1951 Unite This invention relates generally to an improved resilient wall tile and more particularly to a resilient plastic wall tile.

It is a general object of this invention to produce a new and improved resilient wall tile.

It is a more specific object of this invention to provide a resilient wall tile having improved adhesive and wearability properties when mounted on surfaces having a tacky mastic coating. 7

In mounting tile on a wall, it has long been customary to first coat the wall with a thin layer of tacky mastic which is combed to make it uniform. The tile is then mounted on the wall by pressing it against the mastic. When a resilient wall tile is used, it is retained in position by a combination of two distinct forcesadhesion of the tacky mastic to the tile surface and a partial vacuum which is created when the resilient tile is first pressed against the wall and then assumes its normal shape.

Upon exposing mounted resilient Wall tile to the elements, air tends to penetrate between the mastic and the resilient tile surface causing the mastic to dry. As a result, both forces holding the tile in position decrease in strength. However, as the mastic dries it contracts thereby cupping-in the tile causing it to assume a distorted shape. It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an effective seal against such air penetration and to compensate for the inevitable and ultimate drying out of the mastic and the resultant"cupping-in of the tile by forming the tile with an initially and normally convex outer surface.

Such tile is often installed in places which are subject to water directly. It is, therefore, essential that water be prevented from seeping beneath the tile either between the tile and the mastic or along the Wall by the establishment of an excellent seal around the outermost edges of the tile.

When installing tiles, it is generally necessary to cut some of them. Previously, it was found that straight edged cutting blades fractured resilient tile. Consequently, specially designed cutting tools had to be employed.

It is, therefore, an important object of the present invention to provide a resilient wall tile which, when mounted on a tacky, mastic coated wall, provides a seal, including a peripheral seal of mastic, against any substantial penetration of air between the surface of the tile and the mastic.

Another important object of this invention is to provide a resilient wall tile which retains the tacky property of the mastic against which it is placed for a relatively long period of time.

A further object of this invention is to provide a resilient wall tile having at or near its outer edges mastic compressing means which acts as an excellent seal with the mastic to prevent water seepage either along the wall underneath the tile or between the tile surface and' the mastic.

tates Patent Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved resilient wall tile which can be cut with straight-edged blades without fracturing the tile. 7

Theseand other specific objects and advantages of the invention will, be apparent from the following detailed description and drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the back surface of a resilient wall tile.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary plan view showing portions of four resilient wall tiles mounted on a tacky, mastic coated surface.

Figure 3 is an end View of the resilient wall tile of Figure 1.

Figure4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view along line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view with the tile in a horizontal position and a straight-edged cutting blade adjacent thereto.

While this invention is susceptible of various modifications and alternative constructions, it is herein shown and will hereinafter be described in a preferred embodiment. It is not intended, however, that the invention be limited thereby to the specific construction disclosed. On the contrary, it is intended to cover all modifications and alternate constructions falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Referring now to the drawings, the resilient wall tile is here shown in the form of a square, substantially thin body having a slightly convex, decorative outer or front surface 10, a back or rear surface 11 substantially parallel to the outer surface, and a rigid outer enclosing edge or flange 12 which extends continuously around the entire periphery of the tile and projects beyond the back surface a uniform distance to terminate in a plane spaced from the rear surface of the body. As here shown, the

outer surface '10 has beveled edges 13 which not only peripheral seal as will presently be more fully pointed out.

The back surface 11 is roughened, as by forming a series of shallow circular grooves 14 therein, to present greater surface area to the mastic 15 and thereby increase the adhesive holding force exerted by the mastic on the back surface 11. An important feature of this surface is that it contains means which control and direct the flow of mastic behind the back surface, serve as a double seal against water and air penetrating beneath the tile along the wall and between the tile surface and mastic, and permit cutting of the tile with a straight edged blade without fracturing it. In the particular embodiment shown, this means is comprised of a plurality of similar inner enclosing ridges, each in the form of ribs or beads 16, which extend lengthwise parallel to and substantially adjacent each of the four sides of the tile to form narrow channels 17 between the beads .16 and the enclosed edge 12. This channel must be of a depth and width to permit flow of tacky mastic 15 therein and; such that coupled with the control effected by the adja cent bead 16 the desired amount of mastic will be located in the channel 17 and elsewhere behind the back surface- 11 irrespective of the grooves in the mastic resulting from the combing application thereof.

In the present instance a contributing factor and con-- struction is the location and shape of that portion of eral margins of the outer or front surface of the tile, the rear surface of the tile also slopes inwardly, and frontwardly from the flange 12. This portion of the rear This beveled con-,

surface, moreover, lies considerably closer to the wall in the applied position of the tile than does the center portion of the tile so that the depth of the channel is less than would be the depth of a channel located inwardly ofth ebea'd '16. Although a continuous enclosing bead may b'e e mployed, it is preferred that a plurality of beads be used in which each "head is of a "length which is slightly'le'ss than the side of the tile adjacent it. It is also preferred that the ends ofthe beads be'spacedfr 'om each other; that the enclosing edge 12 extend slightly beyond the crest 18-of the beads; and further that the beads be located substantially under the beveled 'edges 13, that is, at the inner marginal edge of the inwardly and frontwardly inclined portion of the rear surface.

The advantages of the above described resilient wall tile are best'understo'od from a description of theinstallation of the tile as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. The resilient tile is pressed firmly against "the tacky mastic coated wall 21 and then the pressure is released. During the period when the tile is being applied, the inner-enclosing beads 16 and associated channel-forming structure serve to control and direct the flow of mastic -15 behind the back surface-11 of the tile, particularly at the margins of the tile. 'The flange 12 and the ribs 16 function to trapmasticbetween them and as the tile mov'es'closerto the wall'the crests of the ridges of mastic are squashed down and made to flow'laterally thereof into the'troughs with the mastic being further compressed and displaced outwardly by the'surface of the beads. With a normal application of mastic to the wall, the mastic trapped between the flange 12 and the crest of the rib 16 is likely to have a volume in excess of the volume o'f'the channel and thus will escape inwardly underneath the rib 16 through the space provided for that purpose by the offsetting of the plane in which the ribs terminate frontwardly of the plane in which the flange 12 terminates. As a result, not only is there formed a continuous, void-free mastic seal in the channel 1-7, but the extrusion of the mastic beneath the beads 16 assures that that space also is void-free and thus, in effect, gives another seal or expands the width of the seal of the mastic in the channel by the width of the bead. The slope 19 of the bead facing the center of the tile tends to push mastic towards the center of the tile thereby aiding in retaining any'excess amount of mastic 'at the peripheral margin of the tile within the tile rather than having the same extruded from beneath the tile. The only mastic moving toward the outer enclosing edge 12 is the controlled amount which is pushed by the outside slope 20 of the head 16 facing the enclosing edge 12. Consequently, any excessive amount of mastic is prevented from oozing out beyond the enclosing edge 12 while the tile is being laid thereby making it easier for the installer to lay a dry grout between the tiles. It is to be notedthat Figs. 2 and 4 show a thin ridge of grout separating the mounted tile rather than 'a dry grout mounting. In addition, these beads serve as a double seal against the penetration of air between the mastic and the back surface 11. In this way, the tacky property of the mastic behind the tile is markedly prolonged.

Since the wall over which the mastic and the tile are applied has some porosity, eventual drying out of the mastic is inevitable despite the effectiveness of the seal around the periphery of the tile. With such drying out the mastic shrinks and thus causes the tile'to cup-in" giving tothe wall an undesirable and unsightly appearance. To compensate for such cupping-in the tile is herein- (see Figs. 3 and 4, particularly Fig. 3) so formed that its outer surface 10 initially and normally is slightly convex. This convexity is made just sufficient to compensate for the cupping-in so that when such cuppingin occurs the exposed surface of the tile will be flat or still very slightly convex.

The outer enclosing edge 12 rests against the surface of the wall 22 to form an excellent seal with the mastic against water seeping between the tile and the mastic.

The mastic against which the tile is laid generally has a plurality of adjoining, deep grooves resulting from the combing operation. The beads in the tile direct and control the flow of mastic directly under and near them, thus ensuring that the desired amount of mastic will be located in the channels 17 and elsewhere behind the back surface 11 irrespective of the grooves in the mastic.

It is frequently necessary to cut the resilient tile and the action of the beads 16 during this operation prevent fracturing when using standard, straight-edged cutting blades. Referring to Fig. 5, a straight-edged blade 22 coming down on thebevelededge 13 of the outer surface 11 exerts a downward pressure first on the upper part of the bevel, as 13a, and if the beads were not present, the tile would fracture before actual cutting could occur. The beads 16, located substantially opposite the beveled edges 13 fu'riiish support against this straining action so that continuous shearing is achieved instead of pressure and resulting fracture of the tile.

The term resilient? as used in this application, is meant to include the physical properties of tiles made of such materials as plastic, neoprene, and the like.

I claim:

14A wall 'tile for mounting on a tacky-mastic-coated wall comprising, a substantially thin body having a front surface and 'a rear surface, a rigid flange extending continuouslyaround the entire periphery of said body and projecting rearwardly of said body a uniform distance to terminate in a plane spaced from the rear surface of said body and rigid rib means on said rear surface projec'ting rearwa'rdly therefrom a uniform distance over the major portion of its length to terminate in a plane parallel to but offset in the direction of said rear surface from said first named plane, said rib means paralleling said flange and extending circumferentially of said body spaced from said flange a distance less than the transverse dimension of said rib means at its base, said transverse dimension being greater than the maximum dimension of said rib means normal to its base, said rib means having a rounded outer surface to displace mastic outwardly and to compress mastic beneath it upon application of the tile.

2. A wall tile'for mounting on a tacky-mastic-coated wallcomprising, a substantially thin body having a front surface and a rear surface, a rigid flange extending continuously around the entire periphery of said body and projecting rearwardly of said body a uniform distance to terminate in a plane spaced from the rear surface of said body, each said front surface and said rear surface over a narrow peripheral portion sloping frontwardly from said flange inwardly, and rigid rib means on said rear surface projecting rearwardly therefrom a uniformfdistance over the major portion of its length to terminate in a plane parallel to but offset in the direction of said rear surface from said firstnamed plane, said rib means extending along the inner margins of the sloping portion of said rear surface to form therewith and with said flange a peripheral channel for the trapping of mastic therein.

3. A tile adapted to be pressed against a mastic coated surface for mounting thereon comprising a thin body of plate form havingouter edges therearound and a rearwar'dly and outwardly inclined marginal body portion terminating at said outer edges with a continuous peripheral flange projecting rearwardly therefrom and surrounding the rear surfaceofsaid body, said peripheral flange providing a side edge flange portion along each outer edge of said body with the rear edge of each'flange portions terminating in a common plane spaced rearwardly of the body, an elongated rib on the rear surface of said body spaced immediately adjacent to each flange portion and extending therealong substantially parallel therewith, each rib projecting rearwardly from the rear surface of the body and defining with its respective adjacent flange portion and the portion of the rear surface of the body therebetween a relatively narrow channel extending therealong and under the said marginal body portion, the portions of the rear surface defining the bottom surfaces of the channels being spaced in a direction rearwardly of the remaining portion of the rear surface of the body and said elongated ribs having the rear edges thereof spaced from the plane common to the edges of the flange portions in a direction toward the body of the tile for passage past said ribs into the narrow channels of mastic displaced laterally outwardly by forced entry of said ribs into a mastic as said tile is pressed into mounted position.

4. A rectangular wall tile for mounting on a tacky, mastic coated wall comprising a thin body having a front surface and a rear surface, a rigid flange extending continuously around the entire periphery of said body and projecting rearwardly of said body a uniform distance to terminate in a plane spaced from the rear surface of said body, said flange providing a side edge flange portion along each outer edge of said body, an elongated rib on said rear surface spaced adjacent to each side edge flange portion and extending therealong substantially parallel therewith, each rib projecting rearwardly from the rear surface of the body, said rib and its respective adjacent side edge flange portion constituting the side Walls of a relatively narrow, circumscribing channel for the trapping of mastic therein and means intermediate each side edge flange portion and the adjacent rib restricting the volumetric capacity of a unit length of said circumscribing channel below that of a unit length of channel having similarly spaced and formed side walls but having a depth equal to the distance between said first named plane and the portion of the area of said rear surface bounded by the inner margins of said ribs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,830,319 Hartzler et al. Nov. 3, 1931 1,868,815 Burgett July 26, 1932 2,180,105 Farrell Nov. 14, 1939 2,255,712 Phillips Sept. 9, 1941 2,379,595 Roe July 3, 1945 2,490,577 Brown Dec. 6, 1949 2,627,744 Lopina Feb. 10, 1953 2,666,373 Mattson Jan. 19, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 3,727 Great Britain of 1909 446,435 France of 1912 333,132 Italy of 1935 434,297 Great Britain of 1935 438,599 Great Britain of 1935 615,609 Great Britain of 1949 972,246 France Aug. 23, 1950 

